Dog nurses 2 endangered tiger cubs in Russia
In this picture taken, Monday, June 4, 2012, Shar Pei dog Cleopatra feeds two baby tigers in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, southern Russia. Two baby tigers whose mother refused to feed them found an unusual wet nurse, a wrinkled, sand-colored Shar Pei dog named Cleopatra. / AP Photo/Igor Okunin
(AP) MOSCOW - Two Siberian tiger cubs abandoned in Russia by their mother have found an unusual wet nurse - a wrinkled, sand-colored Shar Pei dog named Cleopatra, a zoo worker said Wednesday.
The cubs were born late May in a zoo at the Oktyabrsky health resort in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Zoo assistant director Viktoria Kudlayeva said the dog immediately gave the cubs all her attention.
"She accepted them right away," Kudlayeva said in a telephone interview. "She's cleaning them and breast feeding them as if they were her own. And they also sleep together."
The cubs - named Clyopa, after their adopted mother, and Plyusha - are also being fed goat's milk.
Kudlayeva said that the cubs pose no danger to the dog even though they are already showing their claws and hissing.
"They aren't aggressive and they depend on her for feeding," she said.
Fewer than 400 Siberian tigers - also known as Ussuri, Amur or Manchurian tigers - have survived in the wild, most of them in Russia's Far East.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- Man dead in "truly shocking" London attack 209 Comments
- Who were the 4 U.S. citizens killed in drone strikes?
- Graphic video: Man dead in "truly shocking" London attack Play Video
- Mexican volcano on verge of eruption 15 Photos
- People cling to car in "sidewalk skiing" stunt Play Video
- Volcano's rumbles may signal coming to life Play Video
- Is Pope Francis an exorcist?
- Man, 80, becomes oldest to climb to top of Mount Everest
Now if the rest of the World could get along as well as they do, now that would be the real miracle!